Rukia's Reasons
by Jonathan Ortiz
Summary: Rukia seeks to find what makes her who she is. Along the way, she finds the power she has always been searching for.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I'm a new author here on Fanfiction and this is my first story. Just as a warning, I'm taking some liberties with the story line and I'm combining both the Bleach AU and the Bleach MU. I know it's a little short but I wanted to set up the prologue before heading into the main story.

I hope everyone enjoys the first chapter of my story and I hope to bring you a story you enjoy.

There was mass confusion and Rukia couldn't see though the dust that had gathered around the area around them. She tried to look hard to see if anyone had survived and it seemed everyone did, except Aizen. Standing over his body, Rukia saw the familiar sight of her beat and battered orange hair friend…her secret love. She looked as Ichigo started to walk towards her and the other members of the Gotei 13. Blood was flowing from multiple points on his body and she could tell he was almost completely drained of all of his reiatsu. Even the hollow reiatsu which made him one of the most powerful shinigami seemed to be completely drained from his body and she knew it took everything in his arsenal to take down the former Captain Aizen Sosuke.

Watching as he walked right up to her, Rukia looked frightened as Ichigo suddenly feel to his knees and collapsed on her. Not able to support his entire wait, Rukia fell to her knees and held him in her arms and he smiled up at her. Rukia couldn't help but tear up as the idiot in her arms smiled at her like he had just won a contest of strength. Smiling through her tears, Rukia said, "You did it again, you fool."

"That's what you always say short stuff. Oh god, I need a vacation." Ichigo smiled and fell unconscious. The war had finally ended and now it was just time to pick up the pieces of what Aizen had left behind. As Rukia cried over her friend, Orihime, Ishida, Chad, and Renji all came over to check on Ichigo to make sure he was okay. From their fight in Hueco Mundo back to Karakura town, each one of the friends had grown stronger and together, they were able to save the world…again.

As the days carried over into weeks, the friends saw each other time and time again. Ichigo took a few weeks to recover, and his family was finally exposed to the truth about what Ichigo had been doing for so long. Unknown to the friends, it was revealed that not everyone in the Kurosaki household was unfamiliar with the Soul Society and their duties against Aizen. Isshin, a former Captain shinigami himself, had already spoken with the Captain Commander and the other Captains of the Gotei 13. It seemed Isshin and Kisuke Urahara had made an agreement with the Captain Commander that they would not get involved unless it was needed. The battle had taken a turn for the worst and Isshin and Urahara were both involved in an attack upon both Gin Ichimaru and Tousen Kaname. They were able to just barely take them out before Aizen turned to focus his attentions on Ichigo.

Urahara was offered a position back within the Soul Society but he respectfully turned it down to stay on the earthly plain. Everything seemed to go back to normal for the shinigami and the earth heroes, peace finally seemed like a real possibility for them. Even the surviving members of the Vizards were offered refuge and a new home back within Soul Society. Though most of them were happy to have a place to return to, only a few of them took the offer. They felt it would be better for everyone if the power was split in case something every happened again.

All that was left now was to try to find some balance to the lack of activity going on in the mortal world. As long as there were evil souls in the world, there would always be hollows but at least there would never again be Arrancar to threaten anyone like with Aizen. Rukia took refuge in the human world after the war was all over. She was never given the chance to grow up in the real world and even though she would never trade her experiences for anything, she at least wanted to continue with her friends in the real world. Byakuya did not approve or disapprove of Rukia's choice to stay in the real world full time but then again, Rukia never really needed her brother's approval for much of anything anymore. Urahara had agreed to work with Rukia to provide her with gigai so she can look as if she had aged over the normal course of her lifetime.

A world of peace with just minor distractions was exactly what they had hoped for. Now all that was left for them was to carry on with their education, grow up, and maybe clarify their feelings for each other. For now though, just living close to each other was worth the wait for Ichigo to grow up and admit his feelings for her. Of course, with all this time of their hands, it might just be easier to leave things unsaid for the current moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! Another Chapter of my first fan fiction. If you haven't read the first one, you didn't miss too much but you might want to go see how the December war shaped up. Anyways, hope everyone enjoys the next chapter of the story. Forgive my translations if they might be a little off.  
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_5 years later…_

The wind blew past her hair as she concentrated on the battlefield around her. She knew what to do because she had done it a million times, though this time was a little different. This wasn't the harsh battles she had grown to know but rather, a rough training session with one of the harshest teachers she had ever had; her own brother.

"O Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings. Ye who bears the name of man! Truth and Temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Way of Destruction number 33, Soukatsui!" One of the most used spells in her entire arsenal and always one of the most useful. As she launched her Kido attack against her brother, Byakuya used his Senbonzakura against her attack to stop it from hitting. Over the last few years, Rukia's development as a shinigami had improved greatly and one thing she showed true skills in were her Kido attacks.

Clearing Senbonzakura from his field of vision, Byakuya searched for Rukia but could not find her before he heard her behind him. "You have improved greatly Rukia."

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki! Thank you for the compliment brother but you know better than anyone you shouldn't talk too much on the battlefield." Everyone who knew Rukia had noticed the changed in her fighting style and in her overall skill since taking up training with her brother. Renji had been against the training because he knew what it was like to train with Byakuya but as always, she simply knew he was just trying to protect her. Renji and Rukia had come to a point where he knew it would never work out between them but that didn't stop either of them from remaining friends.

"You are correct Rukia. Scatter, Senbonzakura." As Byakuya launched his attack against Rukia, he could not feel anything but proud that she had decided to defy him and progress in the soul society. He would only admit it to himself but he was selfish in stopping her from pursuing a career as a seated member of the Gotei 13. He had, however, made Rukia promise to give him time to train her to advance her skills enough so she could take on threats without fears of falling. She had agreed and thanked him every day they had trained together over the last three years.

Blocking his attack, Rukia sidestepped the rest of Senbonzakura and stood right next to her brother holding her sword forward. "First Dance, Tsukishiro!" The area around Rukia and Byakuya started to freeze over in an even bigger circle then she had before. Thanks to the years of training she had with her brother, Sode no Shirayuki had become much stronger and so were the dances she possessed. However, her brother was not a novice to this attack either and he was soon away from Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki's frozen domain.

Rukia had anticipated his movements and as such, launched a surprise attack against him. "Way of Binding, Rikujo Koro!" The six lights hit her brother with such force that he was a little surprised she was able to pull it off without him knowing about it. She smiled a little and swung her sword once again towards him, Sode no Shirayuki casting another Tsukishiro. She had trained long and hard to be able to cast Tsukishiro from a distance and now that she was able to do it, she used it to push her brother further. Seeing the attack coming, Rukia knew what was coming next from him and she had already set up her next trap.

As if on key, her brother's haori could be seen breaking apart into pieces on the ground. Her brother had used his Black Op Steps against her before so it wasn't a surprise when he appeared behind her. Placing a smile on her face, Byakuya was a little shocked when suddenly, he could not move himself from where had appeared and instead, was trapped in a Kido net. Lieutenant Hinamori had cast a similar net like this during the December Wars and it seems Rukia had improved upon the design herself. The net separated Byakuya from his sword and he was left alone right behind Rukia. Looking back, Rukia had the same expression Ichigo Kurosaki used to have on his face when he was fighting.

"The next dance, Hakuren!" A large jet of ice flowed from the small space between Rukia and her brother as Byakuya was hit with the full force of her second dance. Rukia had learned to take the situation and use it to her advantage because this kept her a step ahead of her rival. However, as the ice pushed against Byakuya, Rukia heard the words which seemed to always end their training sessions no matter how hard she fought back.

"Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi" The air suddenly filled with the swords of a thousand cherry blossoms and Rukia allowed her sword to seal itself once again and return to its normal state. Placing her sword back in its sheath and returning to the ground below them, Rukia smiled as Byakuya walked over to looking exhausted. She could tell the training session was a success because it only took a few minutes for her brother to be forced to use his Bankai on her. He normally ended with his Bankai because Rukia had yet to achieve the same level of power as her brother had. Some of the other member of the Gotei 13 had discovered after the battle with Aizen their own power had increased and they found their own Bankai. However, Rukia had yet to realize this power and it was starting to bother her a little that Sode no Shirayuki wasn't being very forthcoming with how close they were to reaching this power.

"Rukia, you are vastly improving everyday of your training. Soon, you will…what's this?" Rukia was mid bow to her brother when he broke off from their conversation to see a Hell Butterfly flying up to them. Holding his hand out accept the message, more than likely from the Captain Commander, Rukia moved a little closer so she could also heard the message.

"Captain of the 6th division, Kuchiki Byakuya and 3rd seat of 13th division, Kuchiki Rukia, your presence is requested by the Captain Commander right away. Please make your way to the Main Assembly Hall right away." With that the butterfly made its way back to where it called home. All it took from Byakuya was a glance to Rukia for both of them to begin the trip to the Main Assembly Hall. As they made their way across the Seireitei, Rukia tried to figure out why in this time of peace they were receiving a summons from the Captain Commander. However, not one to question authority without a certain orange-haired replacement at her side, Rukia quietly followed her brother and was prepared for anything.

The only problem: she wasn't prepared for what she was about to find out.


End file.
